Glencore and Tohoku finally agreed their price on Saturday after talks between the two parties overran their April 1 deadline, sources said.

Tohoku Electric was said to have been aiming for a price of less than $59/mt FOB Newcastle 6,322 kcal/kg GAR, while Glencore had sought a price in the mid-to-upper $60s/mt, sources added.

The settled price represents a decline of 9.14% on last fiscal year’s contract price of $67.80/mt FOB Newcastle 6,322 kcal/kg GAR that was achieved by Australian coal producer Rio Tinto.

The April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017, contract price for Tohoku is, however, the lowest for nine years since $55.50/mt FOB Newcastle was struck for the April 2007-March 2008 fiscal year.

Market sources said the price achieved by Glencore in its negotiations for Australian thermal coal deliveries to Tohoku over the April 2016-March 2017 period was “good,” considering prevailing market prices.

Spot market prices have been trading at significantly lower levels, with a May-loading 30,000 mt parcel of Newcastle 6,000 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal having traded at $53/mt FOB on Friday.

It was not immediately clear how much Australian 6,322 kcal/kg GAR thermal coal Glencore would be supplying to Tohoku in its April-year contract, though in previous years the volume has varied between 20 million and 40 million mt, according to market sources.

The settlement price agreed between Tohoku and Glencore usually becomes the benchmark for deliveries of Australian thermal coal in the Japan market for the Japanese fiscal year period.